Summer of fun to help bolster study ambitions

Organizers of summer education camps at Western schools say they are receiving more children from China.

In recent years, Chinese parents have become more confident about sending their offspring overseas, and according to education specialists the rise in attendances at summer programs, particularly in the UK, reflects that trend.

"Chinese students attend UK summer camps to broaden their horizons, gain confidence in speaking English, and to get firsthand experience studying here," says Lucy Greaves, marketing director at Ardmore Language Schools. "We believe many of our young learners from China come as a first step on their international study ladder, and their parents have ambitions for them to study at high school."

Established in 1984, Ardmore offers summer camps at Bedales School, Brighton College, and Oxford and Cambridge universities.

"These are very popular with Chinese parents, and the facilities at world-famous schools are excellent," Greaves says. "We originally selected these schools for their safety, facilities and accommodation. It has proved an added bonus that they are so popular in China for their rankings, too."

Most Chinese students who attend Ardmore's programs are aged between 10 and 17. The standard program consists of 15 hours of English lessons and two excursions a week. Students spend their afternoons and evenings participating in a selection of supervised sports and leisure activities.

"We're launching a family program for 2016 to enable students' parents to join them, with the choice of studying English, too," Greaves says.

Adam Ennis, China development manager for Bell Educational Services, says that by attending summer courses abroad, not only will students increase their chances of studying abroad in the future, but it also helps parents understand the possibilities.

He Jialu, 11, who attended one of Bell's summer camps, says she enjoyed the program because it provided her with a good chance to fully immerse herself in British culture.

"One time, our teacher told us about different British food and table manners, and afterward we were all able to try the real food," she says. "It was very interesting."

Ennis says many parents in China realize their children study hard during the school term and want them to have a fun and entertaining summer.

"Our challenge is to create programs that satisfy both of these requirements - fun but ambitious," he says. "All of our courses combine study with extracurricular activities, such as sports and crafts, and we encourage students to try everything."

Chinese students can be shy at the start of the program, he adds, "but once they get settled we find they mix well with the other students."

Bell has a long history of running programs in China, including teacher training and kindergarten consultancy, and is now in the process of setting up a company in the country.

"We have permanent members of staff in the area, including me, who work on these programs, so we're able to offer pre- and post-departure support to Chinese groups. This reassures parents that their children are in safe hands," Ennis says.

Contact writer at wangmingjie@mail.chinadailyuk.com

(China Daily European Weekly 09/05/2015 page23)